Thomas Duncan

Search instructions

View alphabetical lists of all artists currently featured on the site. Select the initial of the artist's name that you are looking for. Scroll down the list until you find the name, and select it for more information about the artist and his or her work.

Search Tip

Artists are organised by their most commonly-used names. This is usually but not always their surname e.g. Leonardo da Vinci is under L, Van Gogh is under V and Raphael is under R.

Thomas Duncan (Scottish, 1807 - 1845)

Born in Perthshire, Thomas Duncan studied law before entering the Trustees' Academy, Edinburgh in 1827 where he trained under William Allan. Primarily a portrait and history painter, many of his subjects were taken from Scottish history, particularly romantic, Jacobite incidents. He was appointed Director of the Trustees' Academy in 1844, after heading up the School of Colour since 1838. Considered to be one of the best painters of his generation, and a particularly fine colourist, his early death from a brain tumour cut short a successful career.

History painting

Paintings in which the subject is taken from biblical, classical or other mythological histories.

Jacobite

Jacobitism was a movement to restore the descendants of the Stuart King James VII and II to the British throne. The first claimant, Prince James Francis Edward (known as 'the Old Pretender') was exiled first in France, then Italy, from where he planned unsuccessful attempts to claim the throne. His son Prince Charles Edward (known as 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' or 'the Young Pretender') famously invaded Britain in 1745, but after some military successes was finally defeated at Culloden in 1746.

Trustees' Academy

The Trustees’ Academy was founded in Edinburgh in 1760 by the Board of Trustees for the Improvement of Fisheries and Manufactures in Scotland. This was the earliest publicly funded art school in Britain, but during the early years it was essentially an elementary drawing school dedicated to applied design. The students included practical craftsmen as well as fine artists. The school gradually developed more facilities for advanced fine art education, including a plaster cast collection. In 1826, it relocated to a new building on The Mound, which was erected by the Board. The Trustees’ Academy was reformed in 1858, using the well established government Schools of Design in London as its model, and was the direct ancestor of Edinburgh College of Art, established in 1907.